Electrical system for outboard motors



June 24, 1930. A; SCH'REIL r AL 1,765,454

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Original Filed Dec. 30, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I VENTOR. 04/

BY 7 ML!- M ATTORNEYS amane 24, 1930. A. SCHREIL ET AL ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Original File d'Dec. so. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEYS.

Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUGUST SCHREIL AND HERBERT J. HILLBORN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, AS SIGN- OBB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO OUTBOARD MOTORS CORPORATION, OF DETROIT,

MICHIGAN, A conronarron or urcnrenn ELECTRTOAL SYSTEM FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Original application filed December 80, 1926, Serial No. 158,057. Divided and this application filed January 30, 1929.

This invention relates to im rovements in electrical systems for outboar motors.

It is the object of the invention to provide a novel and improved ignition and hghtmg 5 system for an outboard motor wherein connections are arranged for the alternativeuse of an extraneous source of electric power either in the ignition circuit for start ng purposes or in the lighting circuit when the mo- 1 tor is at rest, both of such circuits being nor mally'supplied with current during englne operation from a convenient source associated with the engine, such for example as a fly wheel magneto of special desi n.

This application is adivisioino our-pomanion application, No. 158,057, filed Decem- In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an out- 20 board motor assembly embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan vlew of the wlring connections employed.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the armature support of a fly wheel magneto embodying a structure in accordance with the invention and assembled with the fly wheel, portions of the fly wheel being broken away to expose the mechanism assembled on such support.

Figure 4 is a plan view of an inverted armature support embodying this invention.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

' The outboard motor selected for the purpose of exemplifying this invention includes the usual assembly of cylinders 5 and crank case '6 tiltably pivoted at 7 to a transom bracket 8. A tiller handle which also operates to control a reversal of the engine is shown at 9 and the usual carburetor appears at 10.

In order to supply ignition current to the spark plugs 11 a magneto is used, corresponding in general to the type of magneto described in Patent No. 1,147,038, issued to H. C. Mueller, on July 20,1915.

A permanent magnet 12 having pole pieces 13 is mounted interiorly of the rim of fly wheel 14,- the fly wheel being fixed in the v usual way to the crank shaft 15. The pole Serial No. 836,142.

pieces rotate adjacent an armature mounted on a plate 16 which is loosely clamped at 17 described, and having the other end 25 connected by a wire-26-with the stationary con- 1 tact 27. of the usual interrupter. -A condenser 31 is connected in series between the stationary contact 27 and ground. This condenser is -of a size to function satisfactorily during magneto operation and may, for example, be M. F. D. A movable contact 28 of the interrupter is grounded and is provided with a cam follower portion 29 acted on by cam 30 on the crank shaft 15. The impulses generated by the making and breaking of a connection at the interrupter generate a corresponding current in the secondary winding 32 which includes oppositely wound portions connected respectively to the two spark plugs 11.

The arrangement above described for supplying current from a fly wheel magneto to the spark plugs of a two cylinder engine is all standard and has been set forth briefly in order to provide a basis for the following description of the more important aspects of the present invention.

As above indicated, the present invention includes a means for supplying electric ourrent from an extraneous source to the ignition circuit of an outboard motor.- Such an arrangement is valuable in starting particularly where the magnets in the fly wheel have become weakened so that the fly wheel magnets do not develop the full output of current. In order to accomplish this pur-' pose of the invention, I provide at 35 on the underside of'armature mounting plate 16, a cylindrical receptacle screwed at 36 to the plate and provided in its end wall with an ordinary jack 37 of the well known form shown diagrammatically in Figure 2. Spring 38 of the jack'is grounded at 39 and a connection to ground is ordinarily estab- ,sertionof'the, plug 45 into-jack 37. will result 1 lished through the jack between coil termi- M124 and the ground b means of a conductor 40 andcontact41. 'pring contact 42 of the jack is likewise Connected to conductor. 40 and it will be obvious that the arrange ment is such that when the ordinary plug 45 is thrust intothefj'ack, spring 38 will be lifted from'contact 41, thereby breaking the direct connection between the ground and terminal 34 of the primary winding ofthe magneto. Jack 45, however, is provided with current from two separate conductors 46 and 14?; H which, as diagrammatically shown in higure 1, are respectively connected with the posi tive and negative terminals of some extraneous source of curr'ent, such for exiample' as. a siX-voltba'ttery.=

In consequence of this arrangementtheinin connecting the battery in series bet-ween coil terminal 24 and the ground so that the.

battery 48 willthereupon be available to supply current for ignition, the battery circuit being completed through the-primary wind-- ing of the' magnetic coil throughthe interrupter and'thence-through the ground to the battery; Y

The withdrawalof theplug results in re moving the battery from its series'connection with the magnetic coil and in re-establishing required across the interrupter differs some-,

what from the accepted standard of capacity from condenser 31. Accordingly, there is provided at 43 a second condenser which may have a capacity of the order of M. F. D.,

- and this condenser is connected to a contact 44 so positioned as to be operatively engaged by the jack spring 38 as such spring moves away from contact 41 upon insertion of the plug. Thus, the insertion of the plug not only connects the battery operatively 1n series in the ignition circuit, but moreover, establishes automatic lly an additional capacity across the interrupter joints.

The location of the jack housing 35 and jack 37, as illustrated, not only provides a most-convenient mounting for these accessories, but also has the advantageof protecting the jack and its case from rain. It willbe noted. moreover that the jack and related parts are also protected from blows which might dama e them if the jack were in a more expose position. While fully protected from injury through rain or violence, the ack is nevertheless readily accessible as will be seen from the showing in Figure 1 y I V It has been found that without in any way interfering with the successful use of the fly wheel magneto for ignition purposes, it is possibleto develop sufficient-current to supply a lighting circuit. This is done, according to the separate" invention of .August Schriel, disclosed in application, Serial No. 146,960, filed November e, 1926, for Magnetos, by applying aseparate winding or windings at 50 to the armature, ancl'asuthcicnt quanti tyof current for the operation of a light can be takenv therefrom without requiring any I.

modification whatever u of the ignition Giff cuit and without decreasing any degree I the amount ofcurrenttavaflablc ,f-or ignit on,

volved in the present, nvenuqn.

Tnorder to render more readilyl available the flux which hasll ieretofoife been wastediu circuit.. This.arrangement forms the subject j matter of a companion application filed by: the said Schriel previously noted, butfwill be described. herein becauseit leads to ajni'ore' perfect understanding [of the circuits in-" the armature,- coils a1iewound atjl50 on the armature offsets 21, Each of the ,coils- 50 is I j grounded at .51, the" grounding being at opposite ends of the coils whereby ingeifect the coilsare connected together in series.

Conductors 53 and 54 from the ungro'unded ends ofthe ,coils supply current to anihin -v candescent electric lamp suitably located.

It is customary to provide a handle at 55 'for the oscillation of the entire mounting plate 16 for thearmature and'related parts' Such oscillation is utilized to advance or;

retard the spark by adjusting the cam follower 29 withreference to the path of cam 30. This handle customarily carries a switch56 which is adapted to ground contact 27 of the interrupter and thereby to short-circuit the interrupter and to prevent I ignition.

This handle is a peculiarly de-.

sirable location for the socket 60 through which current is supplied to the incandescent bulb 61 onto any other desirable output line. Assembled upon handle 55 for this purpose is a special socket which houses a switch 63 and is provided with a reflector bulb. Both the reflector cap and bulb are preferably removable to enable the socket to receive a take-off plug through which other lights may be supplied with current when desired.

-The location of the light at 61 on the end of handle 56 is such that it illuminates the carburetor to enable adjustments thereof to be made, and it illuminates thelock 66 for the outboard motor bracket screw, the posimeaaea gther of the many possible locations there- It will be understood that the magneto supplies current through the special windings 50 only when'the engine is in operation, Whereas it is particularly necessary on various occasions to have the motor illuminated when the engine is at rest. For this purpose I provide at 65 a cylindrical case for a jack 67. The jack is similar to the jack used at 37 in the ignition circuit, while the case 65 corresponds to case 35 and is mounted in the same manner on the under side of the armature plate 16. Conductors 54 leads to contact 68 of jack 67 and is normally in electical connection with spring contact 69 which is connected with one of the terminals of socket 60 through a conductor 70. Conductor 53 leads to the jack contact 71 which is normally in electrical engagement with spring contact 7 2 which is connected through switch 63 with the other terminal of socket 60. Thus, a circuit is completed through coils 50 and jack 67 and socket 60, together.

with the lamp or other appliance therein, such circuit being under'the control of switch 63.

The same plug 45 which is receivable into jack 37 is also receivable into jack 67, and when inserted therein has the result of lifting the spring contacts 69 and 72 from their respective contacts 68 and 71. Thereby the connection of coils 50 to the lamp is broken and in lieu thereof a connection is established through the jack from battery 48 to spring contact 69, thence to the socket 60 and the bulb 61 therein, thence through switch 63 to spring contact 72 and back through the plug to the battery.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the two jacks 37 and 67 are always available in a readily accessible and yet fully protected position, alternatively to receive the plug 45 which is connected to the extraneous source of electrical energy which,

for the purposes of this disclosure, is a battery shown at 48. With the plug engaged in jack 67 the light at the end of handle 55 is always available under the control of switch 63 and may be usedto illuminate the carburetor and other parts of the outboard motor even when the engine is stationary. It is convenient to employ the light for any preliminary adjustments of the motor incident to the starting operation, andit will be noted that the light may also be used to facilitate positioning the motor on the boat after dark or in carrying the motor through dark places on land. 7

After the light has been used to mount the motor and to make preliminary adjustments thereof the energy of attery 46 may be almost instantly transferred for application to the ignition circuit by merely pullin plug 45 from jack 67 and engaging it in jac 37. Thereupon the battery is connected in series with the ignition coil and boosts the voltage output thereof to effect easy starting. After the engine starts the supplemental coils 50 on the armature will again supplycurrent which may be used in the light when desired, and, the engine "being in operation, the plug 45 may be withdrawn to save further consumption of battery cur.- rent and the fly wheel magneto will thereupon supply' all current necessary both for ignition and lighting.

We claim: 7

1. The combination with an ignition circuit including a primary magneto coil, an interrupter, and a condenser shunted across said interrupter, of a battery, and switch means for connecting said battery into said circuit, together with an additional condenser shunted across said interrupter when said battery is so connected.

2. The combination with an ignition circuit including a primary magneto coil, an

interrupter, and a condenser shunted across 1 

